Bollywood has been accused of many things but the one charge that keeps coming back is that of nepotism. It’s quite understandable. Bollywood is filled with sons and daughters of successful film personalities.
I am of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with nepotism. Is it fair? Of course not. But it happens in almost every field. Bollywood is like the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). There are many research institutes in India, each of them has few successful projects, some okay projects and many (too many!) failures. You will never hear about the failures of these institutes. ISRO is the only institute whose successes and failures cannot be swept under the carpet. If a rocket crashes, not only everyone knows about it but can watch it real time. And write scathing op-eds about it the next day.
Bollywood is in the same boat. There is no way to hide the failures because the whole game is based on publicity. And this is the reason why the nepotism charge is so often hurled at Bollywood stars but we don’t notice it that often in other fields.
Think about the last time you had to choose a doctor. Did you check if his family members were also doctors? In fact, doctors are some of the most frequent practitioners of nepotism. Not only are their sons, daughters, brothers and sisters in the medical profession, but doctors often marry into their profession and keep expanding it. I have never seen any columnist or pundit criticizing the nepotism in medical profession.
Then there is the fairness charge. Is it fair to other newcomers who have to make countless sacrifices in order to just get one chance? Of course not. But Bollywood is not the only place where it happens. Anyone starting out on his own without any family support has to go through similar struggles, be it a lawyer or an entrepreneur. It’s not fair but then the real world rarely is.
The other frequently held opinion is that sons and daughters of Bollywood stars have it too easy. On the face of it, this seems a reasonable charge. They do have it easy compared to the struggling newcomers. And the comparison is the key issue here. I thought about this when I read the ridiculous criticism of the #MeToo movement by Tavleen Singh where she said that urban harassment was of no importance and the movement will not be meaningful unless it reaches the villages. No one is denying that the movement should reach all layers of society but the comparison is false. A dacoity in Chambal does not invalidate a robbery in Bandra.
Similarly, people from a movie family have it easy compared to newcomers. But that does not mean it’s easy for them. A newcomer has nothing to lose in terms of comparison. Being born in a famous family will give you all the automatic perks but there are also very unique problems – for instance, the pressure to succeed can be much more intense. In response to this pressure, sometimes you also see people carving out a different identity for themselves, going against the family background.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not diminishing the struggles of newcomers who are also vulnerable and prone to all kinds of exploitation and harassment. All I am saying is you cannot have a competition of suffering. Everyone has a different life and associated with it are a very unique set of problems. Funny thing is these problems look quite easy and manageable as long as they are not ours. That’s why most people have great advice on how other people should run their lives.
One very distinct disadvantage that outsiders face is about getting second chances. If their first movie flops, it is very difficult for an outsider to get a second chance. On the other hand, actors who belong to the fraternity have been known to get many, many chances which increases the probability of their success. Again, not fair but that’s the way it is.
It’s very natural for parents to teach their children the special skills that they have learned. It’s also very natural for the children to absorb from their surroundings. I think our time will be much better served thinking about how to make good art, rather than the pointless debates about nepotism.
Here’s how I practice what I preach. If I had good connections (or the infinite patience needed to cultivate good connections), you would be reading this post in a well known magazine or newspaper. Since that is not the case, you are reading it on my blog. Here’s the thing, though. I notice that people are reading this post even after two years. Imagine what would have happened if this post had been published in a well known newspaper. It would have been forgotten. On a newspaper website, the readers barely have time to read the BREAKING NEWS. Who is going to search for a two year old column? And the printed version is used to wrap peanuts the next day. Newspaper websites are like black holes. Your columns have a shelf life of one week, then they are gone. On your own website, you are the king. No nitpicking editor looking over your shoulder. It only has your articles and nothing else. (Did you notice how I promoted my four year old article on black holes back there?)
If you are good, people will find you. Like Steve Martin said, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
Believe in yourself!
